Roughing It by Mark Twain

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Twain wrote Roughing It as a semi-autobiographical prequel to his other famous travelogue, Innocents Abroad, which was published three years prior.

The book follow's Twain's adventures through the American West during and after the Civil War, in which he accompanied his brother Orion to his newly-appointed seat as Secretary of the Nevada Territory. It is during this trip that Twain refined his unorthodox sense of humor, which would prove to be foundational to the novels for which he is best remembered.